Toy pistol



A. W. WEEDEN.

TOY PISTOL.

APPLICATION FILED AUGrI. 1922- 1,4:34,668. Patented Nov. 7, 1922.

q/ 66 x F- 4 k Q /HS /0 Patented Nov. 7, 1922.

UITED sTrEs IASated PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR W. WEEDEN, OF QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-EIGHTH TO ELIZABETH NILSSON AND ONE-EIGHTH TO LILLY N. NILSSON, BOTH OF NEVTTON, IVIASSACI-IUSETTS, AND ONE-EIGHTH TO JENNIE C. ANDERSON, 0F QUINCY, MASSA- .CHUSETTS.

TOY PISTOL.

Application filed August 1, 1922. Serial No. 579,060.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR W. WEEDEN, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Quincy, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toy Pistols, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to toy pistols intended for the shooting of projectiles which are preferably in the form of the common spherical marbles supplied for use'in the well known games of marbles, as played by boys.

My toy pistol is adapted to shoot the aforesaid marbles to the distance of, say thirty feet; and is designed to provide entertainment and amusement to persons interested in short range target shooting. It is also particularly adapted to, and is intended for the use by boys in their common games of shooting marbles.

The invention resides in the particular construction of the pistol devised by me, which results in a simple device which may be manufactured inquantities at an inexpensive figure, and sold at a price. low enough to create a popular market.

My invention is described in this specification having reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating the same. i

In said drawings: I

Fig. 1 is a plan View showing, in one of the early stages of the manufacture ofmy pistol, the stamping from which is subsequently formed the pistol casing.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the stamping shown in Fig. 1. j a I Fig. 3 is a side view of the finished pistol, with the casing thereof partly cut away to show the spring and the trigger which are located in the interior thereof.

Fig. 4 is an end view looking at the rear of the pistol.

Fig. 5 is an end view looking at the front of the pistol. v

Referring to the drawings, at F lgs. 1 and 2, the casing of the pistol, in one of its stages of manufacture, just prior to the assembling of the operative parts within the same, is embodied in the piece of stamped or pressed metal which has been fashioned, preferably by the use of dies, into the form-shown; com-' prising the curved portion 1, which 18 of the length of, and later forms the barrel of the pistol, which portion also contains the centrally located and longitudinally extending slot 2 provided therein. Substantially identical wing portions, 3 and 41: extend from the barrel portion at one end towards either side. Said wings have turned over edges, 3- and 4%, as shown, and the said edge is partially cut away for a short distance at 3 as is indicated.

The edge of one of said wings, as for eX- ample. 4, carries the forked flap ends 5, while the other wing edge carries the single flap tongue 6, adapted to fit between the forked flap ends 5.

In the further manufacture andassembly of the pistol the bending of said central curved portion 1 is completed so as to form the barrel 10 of the pistol. At the same time the edges .3 and 4 of the wings 8 and it close together, and said wings may then be locked in closed-together position by folding the tongue flap 6 and the forked flap ends 5 over upon one another in an interlocking relation. The wings, so joined, form the handle part of the pistol casing. At the time of closing together of the wings, as just described, the edges of the rear end of the barrel are swaged or drawn over so as to substantially close the rear end of the same. A slot 16, however, is provided in said closed rear end as shown to receive the trigger as is hereinafter described.

Just prior to the final closing together of the wings 3 and 4, and the locking of the same, the spring 12 and the trigger 11 are inserted and positioned in operative relation in the interior of the casing of the pistol, the same being located partially within the barrel portion of the pistol, butmore largely within the handle of the same.

The trigger 11 has the notch 11 on the lower bottom margin thereof adjacent the rear end of the trigger; which said notch 11 fits over the top edge at 13 0f the turned over lip of the wing 3 adjacent the rear of the barrel. The rear end of said trigger projects a short distance outwardly from the closed rear end of the barrel through the opening 16 provided for that purpose.

The forward margin of said trigger 11 is contoured so as to provide the finger grip 11 which projects through the front lip of the wing 3, a portion of which lip is cut away at 3*, as shown in the drawings at Fig.

1, to permit this. Below the finger grip the trigger margin is so contoured as to permit the swinging of the trigger about the notch 11 as an approximate axis, and the swinging downward movement of said trigger is limited by the contact with the edge of Such cutaway lip at 3, of the edge 11 of the trigger, which lies just below said finger grip 11 Just forward of the rear end of the trigger, its upper margin is cut away to form the marble receiving notch 11 intended for receivin the marble ll servin as a ro'ectile. Within the pistol casing is located the spring 12, one end of which engages the trigger 11, as by a bend-over portion 12 passin through the hole 11 formed in the trigger a little above the notch 11 of the trigger. Said spring has the preferably U-shaped bend or loop 12 which lies near the bottom of the interior of the pistol handle; from which loop 12 the other end, herein termed the free end, of the spring extends upwardly across the barrel and passes through the slot in the pistol barrel until it terminates in the eye 12 lying just above the top of the barrel. Said spring 12 is so bent, and embodies sufiiciently resilient qualities to cause the end of the same which is in attachment with the trigger 11 at the hole 11 to exert an anticlockwise turning tendency of the 4 same about the notch, whereby said trigger is maintained in its elevated position.

The forward lip 11 of the marble receiving notch, in the elevated position of the trigger, extends far enough across the barrel of the pistol to block the passage of a marble 14L lying within such notch. The downward swing of the trigger, however, is sufficiently great to carry said lip 11 downwardly until it no longer blocks said barrel and permits the ejection therefrom of said marble 14.

In the use of my pistol the shooter, preparatoryto the loading of the pistol, seizes the free end of the spring 12 by means of the eye 12 and carries the same into its extreme rearward position as limited by the slot 2 in the'barrel of the pistol. At the same time the trigger is pulled downwardly to its limit of movement, carrying the lip 11 of the marble receiving notch 11 far enough downward to allow the marble inserted in at the open end of the barrel to enter said notch. The trigger is then released and the free end of the spring is permitted to bear against the marble located in the marble receiving notch, the lip 11 then being in its raised po sition and serving to prevent the ejection of the marble from said barrel because of the pressure of the free end of the spring exerted at the rear of the same.

It will be noted that my construction among other advantages, facilitates the loading process as above described, for the reason that, the pulling back of the free end of the spring is commonly effected by the use of one finger of the shooter and his thumb at the same time naturally presses against the exposed rear end of the trigger, and such pressure, tending to turn the trigger about the notch 11, automatically serves to depress the trigger into its loading position.

When the pistol is loaded and is ready for shooting, the pulling of the trigger, against the force of the rear end of the spring 12, carries the lip 11 downwardly until it is removed from the path of the marble; which thereupon, impelled by the action of the free or forward end of the said spring as it traverses the length of the slot 2, projects the same with all the force of which it is capable; until the extreme forward limit of the movement of the free end of the spring 12 is reached at the forward end of the barrel slot 2; at which limit said free end occupies the position which is indicated by the dotted lines, as at 12.

lVhile my pistol is preferably formed from a single sheet which is stamped, bent, and joined together as described, the same may be made up from two portions stamped or cast in complementary halves of symmetrical form, adapted to be joined and fastened together in any approved manner to form the casing of the pistol; the operating parts, embodying the same characteristics as those above described, being assembled within the interior of the casing prior to the closing together of said halves in their operative relations.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patcut is:

1. In a toy pistol for shooting marbles and the like, embodying a hollow casing comprising handle and barrel portions, a spring located within said handle with upwardly extending end portions, a trigger having a hinged engagement with said casing adjacent the rear of said barrel, said trigger having one of the end portions of said spring engaged therewith and being resiliently maintained thereby in a raised position, the other or free end of spring being extended across said pistol barrel and through a slot formed in the top thereof and extending longitudinally of the same, said trigger having a marble receiving notch formed on the upper margin of said trigger, adapted, in the raised position of the trigger to prevent a marble placed therein with the free end of said spring bearing upon the rear side of the Same, from being ejected from the pistol barrel, but allowing the release of said marble and the passage of the same from said pistol barrel when said trigger is pulled into its depressed position.

2. In a toy pistol for shooting marbles or the like, embodying a hollow casing fashioned to form a pistol handle and a barrel,

a spring having a loop portion located within the handle and end portions extend ing upwardly therefrom, a trigger swinging ad aeent its rear end upon the said casing near the rear end of said barrel, one of the end portions of said spring being in engagement with said trigger at a point rendering the same operative to hold said trigger resiliently in a raised position, and the other or free end portion of said spring being extended across said pistol barrel and through a slot formed in the top thereof and extending longitudinally of the same, said trigger having a marble receiving notch formed in said trigger on its upper margin, adapted, in the raised position of the trigger to prevent a marble placed therein forwardly of the free end portion of said spring, from being ejected from the pistol barrel, but allowing the release of said marble and the passage of the same out of said barrel under the impulse of said free end portion of the spring as the said trigger is pulled into its lowered position.

3. In. a toy pistol for shooting marbles and the like, embodying a hollow casing comprising handle and barrel portions, a spring located within said handle and ineluding a loop portion and end portions eX- tending upwardly therefrom, a trigger, swinging near its rear end upon the frame adjacent the barrel end, and being held in position thereon by a notch provided on the lower margin thereof towards its rear which is adapted to engage said frame, one of the end portions of said spring being in engagement with said trigger at a point sufiieiently displaced as regards said notch as to provide a turning moment caused by said spring end which serves resiliently to maintain the trigger in its raised position, and the other or free end portion of said spring being extended across said pistol barrel and through a slot formed in the top thereof and extending longitudinally of the same, said trigger having a marble receiving notch formed in said trigger upon its upper margin, and

adapted in the raised position of the trigger a to prevent a marble placed therein forwardly of the free end of said spring from being ejected by said spring from said pistol barrel, but allowing said marble freely to pass out 01? said barrel under the impulse of the free end of said spring as said trigger is pulled into its lowered position.

ARTHUR W. WEEDEN. 

